Winter 2007Volume V, Issue II

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CHRISTMAS!

pages 6-7

the IMPACT of INTEREST

Political Science & Economics joining forces againstbig government

Ron Paul for America?

Fun With YouTube

the crawler

Winter 2007

its everthing you ever needed to know...and some things you didn’t

Nate Anderson &Martin Kragel III

Ron Paul’s Revolution:

how one Liberterian on a mission may just change to the2008 elections

In the Republican field, the whole firsttier of candidates consists of a former actor who induces nothing short of lassitude,a flip-flopping Mormon, an aging author of disastrous campaign finance andimmigration bills, and a pro-abortion, thricemarried, gay defender whose red “R” after his name stands out like the scarlet letter.Room remains for someone—anyone!— who will stand for some true conservativeideals. The eccentric Congressman Ron Paulmay meet that desperate longing. However,whether he will ever become someonevoters take seriously is another question.In a primary year characterized by lackluster performances by many of the top Republicancandidates and the seemingly inevitability of Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side, RonPaul has appeared as something of a breath of fresh air and a shot in the arm to the pervasivecynicism surrounding the current politicalseason. His maverick stances, a mixture of libertarianism and Old Right conservatism,along with his candidness and his legions of loyal supporters have all contributed to thiseffect.In fact, it has been his supporters that havecontributed to Paul’s rise in publicity, morethan anything the candidate has done. TheRon Paul campaign best understood as thereverse of everything traditionally associatedwith campaigning. Instead of attempting towoo potential voters with promised handouts,those who identify with Paul on a wide-range of issues have flocked to him instead.Paul’s whole race for the presidency thus far has been an example of spontaneous order,where the individual initiative of supportersas independent as the candidate has propelledhim forward, especially via the use of theinternet, which is becoming more and moreimportant to modern electoral politics.Paul is also raising big money, largelydue to the independent efforts of hissupporters. On November 5

alone, Paul’ssupporters donated over $4 million in a so-called “money-bomb” organized outsidethe official campaign. The event generatedlarge media attention and marked the biggest single day haul by any Republicanthus far in the election. His supporters are planning a similar fundraising event for December 16, in honor of the 1773 “BostonTea Party,” to get 100,000 people to donate$100 to the campaign that day for a total of $10 million in a single day. At press time,the effort has garnered over 14,300 pledges.Paul is all ready on track to break his thirdquarter totals of $5.1 million. Additionally,Ron Paul’s group on Meetup.com, a socialnetwork, has over 60,000 members in over a thousand individual groups nationwideand internationally, far surpassing thatof any other candidate in either party.To acquaint students with the fiercelyideological candidate, the CollegeRepublicans and Students for Ron Paulheld “Who is Ron Paul?,” an informationallecture in Phillips Auditorioum, replete withYouTube videos and talks from student AlexLinebrink, Former Congressman Nick Smithand Economics professor Dr. Gary Wolfrum.All of the speakers well represented Dr.Paul’s views on subjects ranging fromthe trade and budget deficits, to the oft-forgotten gold standard. Anyone expectinghalf-answers and contradictory statementsabout Dr. Paul’s beliefs was presentlysupported. Unlike most politicians, Paulclaims an unabashedly, ideological bedrock libertarianism; this translates for voters thathis votes are consistent and his principles aremuch easier to explain.Smith, who served with Paul in Congress,said that Paul was not afraid to takeunpopular stands in favor of limitedgovernment and balancing the federal budget. He said that often he and Paul were part of only a few Republicans standing upto pressure from their leadership to vote on bills against their principles. Smith said hehad contributed money to both the Ron Pauland John McCain campaigns, citing them asthe most likely candidates to resists specialinterest groups and lobbyists demandingfavors and handouts if they become president. Ron Paul does not accept moneyfrom lobbyists or special interest groups.Dr. Wolfrum, who admitted before thelecture that he supports Mitt Romney for President, still has great admiration for theDr. Paul’s candidacy. “They tend to be more philosophical; the come from both the leftand the right... It is conceivable that a personcould win” by collecting so many diverseinterests. Despite his comments, Dr. Wolfrumknows Mitt Romney much better and has noreservations about his choice. In reference toRon Paul’s enthusiastic following he repliedthat “he draws people who have strong preference; the intensity of preference for Ron Paul is higher than the other candidates.”

Alex Linebrink, who helps lead Hillsdale

After allowing her children toname a classroom teddy bear,Mohammed, authorities sentenceBritish teacher Gillian Gibbonsto fifteen days in a notoriouslyovercrowded prison. Sudaneseradicals have since taken to thestreets, calling for the immediateexecution of Gibbons.Christian officials worldwidecall for a boycott against “TheGolden Compass,” a film theyclaim openly promotes atheismwhile disguising the Church as a political and religious dictator-ship that “kidnaps” children.On Sunday night The Spice Girls preformed together again for thefirst time since disbanding in thelate 90s.The Filipino Veterans EqualityAct of 2007, currently on thefloor in the House of Represen-tatives (760), seeks to give fullveterans benefits to all Filipinoveterans of World War II as wellas their widows. This, after Dem-ocrats voted to cut U.S. veteran’s benefits by thousands of dollarsearlier this year.At the age of 69, stuntman EvelKnievel passed away Friday after a long struggle with illness.Venezuelan President HugoChavez threatens to cut off theUnited State’s supply of crude oilshould anyone question Sunday’svote over whether or not to makehim president for life. (the mea-sures did not pass)A recent Gallup poll shows that58% of Republicans report be-ing in “excellent” mental health,while only 38% of Democratscan say the same. Cheers to beingsane.A Boston firefighter who claimedthat he had found rope and a hatenote now admits that he plantedthe evidence. However, accord-ing to the ACLU, he is still thevictim.Ice Breaker’s new Pacs, have police worried that the candiesmay be confused for illegal sub-stances. Yes, because small blue bags filled with white powder look nothing like drugs at all.Oprah Winfrey has joinedBarack Obama on his campaign trail, promising visitsto Iowa, New Hampshire, andSouth Carolina.In an attempt to capitalize onillegal immigration, one LosAngeles company is pitching areality show entitled “Who Wantsto Marry a U.S. Citizen?” to net-work executives. Thus far, theyhave enough contestants for sixepisodes.Sifting through the 5,000+ ques-tions submitted via YouTube,CNN found it necessary to focusthe latest Republican debate noton the hard-hitting issues of theeconomy and healthcare, butinstead on the Confederate flagand the Bible.Federal lawmakers are, onceagain, seeking to remove all junk food from school cafeteriasnationwide in an attempt to keepAmerica’s little tykes fromgetting fat.After a whirlwind year, OhioState University and LouisianaState University will take onone another in this year’s BCSchampionship game. This se-lection comes after both WestVirginia and Missouri lostSaturday

Continued on page 10

Hillsdale

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Emilia Huneke-Bergquist

Julie Robison

Editors-in-Chief

Mary Kate Cavazos

Subscription Manager

Brian JohnstonMartin Kraegel IIIKate MartinChristina MillerScott RozellHeather ShellG. Stolyarov II

Staff Writers

Matthew ColeCalvin FrieburgerNathan Lichtman Jeremy Marshall John McNamara James NesbittDave Wasmer

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While images of the American flagengulfed in flames typically conjuresup thoughts of terrorism, rebels, andviolence—students at the Universityof Maine can envision a better grade.In, this, the latest example of lib-eral professionals talking liberties tothe extreme, Associate Professor PaulGrosswiler openly offered extra creditto any student in his mass commu-nications class who burned the flag,constitution, or got arrested whileexhibiting free speech. His justifica-tion of such an offer? “It is not aboutthe flag, it is about free expression.”As Grosswiler’s tirade continued,he complained that free speech nolonger existed in America because“the Republican administration hasmade it all but illegal.” Rebekah Mc-Dade, a sophomore enrolled in thecourse, was the first to complain of bias in the classroom, thus, bring-ing the case into the media spotlight.With this, Grosswiler joins the likesof Ward Churchill, Gene Nichol (presi-dent of William & Mary), and MaryColeman (University of Michigan’s president), who are all people of honor and distinction that have decided to take privilege beyond reality. It is seriouslydoubtful that, as they wrote the Consti-tution, our Forefathers allowed us saidrights to that we may send our children toinstitutions that so blatantly flout them.When did it become okay to burn theAmerican flag, and not okay to for stu-dents at an anti-terrorism rally in SanFrancisco to step on printed imagesof the Hezbollah and Hamas flags?Our country cannot afford the ide-als of freedom of speech and equalityto become disproportionate in impor-tance. Placing one above another withdo nothing but result in the continueddownward spiral of the United Statesas a whole. May we always remember the importance of the Bill of Rightsas an entire document, and put an im-mediate cease to the continued dis-section of our core values and beliefs

FLAMINGLIBERTY

eMILIA hUNEKE-bERGQUIST

The Corporation’s Purpose

Dave Wasmer

cartoon courtesy of USBCI

Corporate social responsibil-ity (CSR) while it may sound like atrendy marketing buzzword, it is in-stead a very real ideological threat:since 2000, nearly $18 million has been given in grants by the State De- partment for the promotion of corpo-rate social responsibility strategies incompanies from developing nations.Throughout the U.S., companies arescrambling to draw up CSR policiesof their own, in an effort to keep a“socially responsible” image. But isthis idea worthy of attention? Essen-tially, corporate social responsibilitymeans a corporation has an ethicalresponsibility to “give back” to thecommunity, in order to advance so-cial and environmental causes. Theidea is commonly associated with theenvironmentalist ideology, or pro-gressive movements aimed at helpingthe poor and improving working con-ditions. The idea has good intentions, but a fundamentally flawed basis.The sole purpose for the existenceof a corporation is to generate profit.Corporations are simply associationsof individual shareholders who investin the company and hire executivesto manage it for them. Corporate so-cial responsibility, however, says thatit is the inherent responsibility of thecorporation to work towards larger social goals. That statement is flawedon face value alone. A corporationis an artificial legal body; it is inani-mate, it has no will of its own, andtherefore cannot bear any responsi- bilities. If CSR is to stand up to anyscrutiny, the responsibility it speaksof must be intended to fall on theshoulders of the executive manage-ment, those best able to singly leadthe company. The problem here isthe purpose for which the executiveis hired: to make a profit, not advancean ideological cause, however laud-able the end result. Executives arefree to donate money and lend sup- port to these causes, if such time andefforts come out of their own pocket.To divert company resources to CSR policies in the pursuit of goals be-yond mere profit is both irresponsibleand unethical. The corporate execu-tive is not the boss of the company- the shareholders are. He is their employee, their subordinate, and theshareholders have made their wishes perfectly clear. The executive is em- ployed to maximize profit, and thatis his first priority. If the sharehold-ers intended to further social causes,they could do so privately and indi-vidually, via donations to charity or